I wrote the following report in July, 2020 about "On the Front Lines." It was an honor to work with Lesley Ferris, Distinguished Arts and Humanities Professor of Theatre, who commissioned the plays based on the writings of Afghan women journalists. Theater is ideal for teaching and learning interculturally because it creates temporary realities for audiences. It also has the benefit of reaching people who may not have normally sought out information about the cultural setting being portrayed.

This picture is from one of the performances of "Parwana: They Bear all the Pain" by Alia Bano
Parwana: They Bear All the Pain by Alia Bano, Director: Ji Rye Lee, Dramaturg: Anna Guse. Above: Premiere on Oct. 7, 2019, Rithika Gopalakrishnan, left; Mehek Sheikh, right. Photo credit: Kirk Moldoff

A Turning Point in International Theatre at OSU

July 20, 2020 by Melinda McClimans

On the Front Lines marked a turning point in the evolution of theater and cross-cultural learning at The Ohio State University (OSU). The project’s purpose of bringing the voices, lived experiences and cultural contexts of Afghan women to our campus and the world through theater was met with immense interest and enthusiasm. Ohio State hosted six events in the fall of 2019 as part of On the Front Lines (OTFL), including the performance of two plays commissioned for the project.

Lesley Ferris, Distinguished Arts and Humanities Professor of Theatre, director of the On the Front Lines project, worked with Sahar Speaks, an Afghan journalism project that provides training, mentoring, and publishing opportunities for Afghan women reporters." A central question asked is: "How can the world see the true Afghan story, if there are no Afghan female writers, photographers, camera operators, or TV producers at foreign news outlets?" (http://www.saharspeaks.org/). Their stories were published and permission was achieved to adapt them for the stage. Four plays were produced in London and the 5th and 6th plays became the centerpiece for this project. as Sahar Speaks: Voices of Women from Afghanistan. Lesley Ferris co-founded Palindrome Productions, a London based theatre company that produced the first four plays.

The main event was the performance of two one-act plays about daily life in Kabul for Afghan women. The plays premiered at Ohio State University during Fall of 2019 and were accompanied by an array of academic events delving into the history and current context of Afghanistan (See below). Local community members and students across multiple departments at Ohio State flocked to the plays and related events. The result was a rich synthesis of the fields of theatre, history, journalism, and literature.

The Department of Theatre and the Middle East Studies Center decided to create the project in response to the current geopolitical situation of Afghanistan and its people. They organized this collaborative project with faculty and staff in the Department of History, Communications, the Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (NELC) Department, the Wexner Center for the Arts, and the Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Collection and the Lawrence and Lee Theatre Institute at the University Library. The Global Arts and Humanities Discovery Theme awarded a grant to ensure the artistic vision of the Director could be fulfilled, especially with regard to the theatre productions (See below, Oct. 7) but also the outreach events and engagement with students and faculty. The following list of events feature top scholars on topics relevant to Afghan history and culture, including the history of Afghan theatre, theatrical practices that the military uses for simulating field operations in Afghanistan, and a talk on "the Great Game." Complete information on the guest artists and scholars can be found on this page.

Events:

10/03/2019 Lawrence and Lee Theatre Research Institute Annual Lecture: Nushin Abrazadah: Shakespeare Among the Suicide Bombers: The Turmoil of Theater in Afghanistan, introduction of speaker by Jeanine Thompson, Professor of Theatre and Director of the Theatre Research Institute and Beth Kattelman, Curator of the Lawrence and Lee Theatre Research Institute and Jeanine Thompson, Director . Audience: 91 people in attendance.

10/07/2019 Sahar Speaks, commissioned by Palindrome Productions of London and adapted for the stage from stories by Afghan women, two one-act plays (see images below). Audience: 279 people in attendance.

Parwana: They Bear All the Pain by Alia Bano

Dust Allergy by Nushin Arbabzadah

Discussant: Meenakshi Ponnuswami, Associate Professor of English at Bucknell University

10/07/2019 Dutch photojournalist Joël van Houdt presented "Kuja Meri?" (Where are you going?): Afghan Refugees Across the Globe, Discussant: Amie Ferris-Rotman, Moscow correspondent for the Washington Post. Introduced by Ann Hamilton, Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Art, Post-talk discussion led by Philip Armstrong, Professor of Comparative Studies. Audience: 98 people in attendance.

10/08/2019 Professor Natalie Alvarez, Ryerson University: Strategic Culture: Staging Afghanistan to Simulate War, Introduction of the speaker by Professor Scott Levi, History Department Chair, Discussant: Professor Peter Mansoor, General Raymond E. Mason, Jr. Chair in Military History. Audience: 50

10/31/2019 Distinguished Arts and Humanities Professor of Theatre, Dr. Lesley Ferris: On the Road to the Pentagon: The Great Game Afghanistan. Introduction of the speaker by Professor Scott Levi, History Department Chair. Audience: 42 people.

11/04/2019 Film Screening of A Thousand Girls Like Me, by Sahra Mani (2018) Introduction by Janet Parrott, Theatre Department Chair, Discussant: Linda Mizejewski, Distinguished Professor of Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies. Audience: 35

Please read the final report for complete details. Please follow the project at Palindrome Productions.


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